The Monday news:
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
Over 1M people have bought our favorite open world game of 2023 so far
https://www.pcgamer.com/over-1m-people-have-bought-our-favorite-open-world-game-of-2023-so-far/
The most surprisingly delightful open world game to come out this year has already reached a major milestone in sales only a month and a half from its release.
Tchia, developer Awaceb's bright adventure game where you play as a young girl who can possess all sorts of objects, has sold over a million copies across PC and PlayStation 5.
CS:GO broke its peak player count record yet again with 1.8M players
https://www.pcgamer.com/csgo-broke-its-peak-player-count-record-yet-again-with-18m-players/
In March, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive smashed its all-time peak player count record when 1,519,457 people logged on following the announcement of Counter-Strike 2. That record has now been broken again, with SteamDBv recording 1,818,773 players—a jump of almost 300,000.
What's brought all these players to CS:GO? While cynics will suggest they're bots, it's likely that a significant amount are launching the game thanks to the final CS:GO Major and its tie-in rewards. Since the Paris Major begins on May 8, Valve has added its usual Pick'Em challenge, in which CS:GO players can attempt to predict the results. The closer your guesses are, the better the rarity of prizes.
GOG has three new Deals of the Day and three new sales:
- These are the DotD, available until Wednesday:
- The first one is Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers – 20th Anniversary Edition, 65% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gabriel_knight_sins_of_the_fathers_20th_anniversary_edition
- Iratus: Lord of the Dead is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/iratus_lord_of_the_dead
- And the Dracula Trilogy is 90% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dracula_trilogy
- The Cozy Days Sale features relaxing games with up to 90% discounts during 2 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_cozy_days
- The new Weekly Sale brings up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230508_weekly_sale
- And the Zombie Gogalypse Sale comes with up to 90% discounts until the 15th of May: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_zombie_gogalypse
Steam has two new deals:
- The Early Access title GTTOD: Get To The Orange Door gets a 35% discount until the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/541200/GTTOD_Get_To_The_Orange_Door/
- Blade Assault will be 80% off until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1367300/Blade_Assault/
There are two new deals at Humble:
- At Humble Bundle we find the Easy-Going Games: Whitehorn Showcase Bundle, with up to 12 games to get during 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/whitethorn-games-showcase
- The Humble Store has launched its Spring Sale! Check out the deals of lots of publishers like Frontier, Playstation, WB, Bandai Namco and more until May 23rd and featuring up to 90% discounts: https://www.humblebundle.com/store
And at Fanatical we find:
- The May Madness deals have arrived! Check the store for the deals available from many publishers like Ubisoft, Capcom, Bethesda, and many more.
- There are four new bundles: Batman: Arkham Collection (6days, 87% off), Rimworld with all expansions (13days, 12% off), Star Wars Collection (13 days, 79% off) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle (14 days, 81% off).
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
Steam's search bar just got a lot better
https://www.pcgamer.com/steams-search-bar-just-got-a-lot-better/
Valve has updated Steam store search to make it easier to explore categories larger than just the name of a game. The search bar on the Steam store can now better search for tags, developers, publishers, and franchises across web, app, and mobile. It'll also handle misspellings and typos much better than it did in the past.
The improvement comes in the form of a feature that deploys existing categories and tags into the search bar as you type, much like suggestions pop up for game names as you search.
The changes came about because Valve saw players' search habits shifting in this direction. "We noticed more players searching for particular store hubs, tags, or developers so we've updated Steam to handle those destinations," it said in a news post.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
PC gamers can now play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in 4K/60fps
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-gamers-can-now-play-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-in-4k-60fps/
Earlier this week, we informed you about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom running on PC via the Ryujinx Nintendo Switch Emulator. And today, we are happy to report that PC gamers can already play this upcoming Zelda game in 4K/60fps with both Yuzu and Ryujinx.
From what we could see, both Yuzu and Ryujinx have some visual/graphics artifacts with this game. Moreover, you’ll need a really high-end PC system in order to get close to 60fps.
Regarding performance, both Yuzu and Ryujinx can run the game smoothly during its prologue scene. However, when the game opens up, performance goes downhill on mid-range PC hardware. Things will obviously get better as the developers of Yuzu and Ryujinx are currently working on optimization tweaks and performance improvements. Let’s also not forget that Tears of the Kingdom is not out yet (well… at least officially).
Elden Ring Resurrection Mod released, aiming to improve the game’s combat, exploration and character building
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-resurrection-mod-released-aiming-to-improve-the-games-combat-exploration-and-character-building/
Modder ‘Valthryn’ has shared a new mod for Elden Ring, called Elden Ring Resurrection. This mod makes changes and improvements to the game’s gameplay systems, gear progression, and animations. Additionally, it brings entirely new gameplay mechanics and an optional custom camera.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos of the mod in the article.
The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition Gets New Preview Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-witcher-3-hd-reworked-project-nextgen-edition-gets-a-new-preview-video/
Modder ‘Halk Hogan PL’ has released a new preview video for his upcoming HD Reworked Project Mod for the Next-Gen version of The Witcher 3. This video compares some of the game’s default textures with the new ones that the modder will include in the mod.
The HD Reworked Project is a must-have HD Texture Pack for The Witcher 3. While the Next-Gen version of The Witcher 3 features most of the overhauled textures, the modder has been working on a new version that will be compatible with it.
>> The video preview is a bit over 4 minutes long.
While you wait for Skywind and Skyblivion, you could be playing Skygerfall right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/while-you-wait-for-skywind-and-skyblivion-you-could-be-playing-skygerfall-right-now/
We recently got to see a full 20-minute quest walkthrough from Skywind, the mod recreating Morrowind in Skyrim. Earlier in the year, we saw four hours of Skyblivion, the mod recreating Oblivion in Skyrim, which is due out in 2025. But did you know about Skygerfall?
As the name suggests, Skygerfall is a recreation of Daggerfall, the second mainline Elder Scrolls RPG, which was originally released in 1996. Unlike the mods bringing back more recent games it's been finalized, with a small patch earlier this year to fix some meshes bringing it up to version 1.10.
Skygerfall is a more modest mod than either Skywind or Skyblivion. It's not aiming to bring the entirety of Daggerfall into Skyrim's engine, just the main questline. Which is still significant—a 20-hour romp across the Iliac Bay, visiting its maziest dungeons on behalf of Emperor Uriel Septim VII. It takes in some deep Elder Scrolls lore, lets you meet characters like Sheogorath and Mannimarco, King of Worms, and has been fully voiced.
GAMING NEWS
Battlefield 2042 Update 4.2.1 releases next week and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-2042-update-4-2-1-releases-next-week-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
DICE has announced that Update 4.2.1 for Battlefield 2042 will go live next week, and shared its full patch notes. According to the team, this new patch will add realtime vehicle cooldown timers.
Take a look at Troika Games’ The Lord of the Rings 2001 Demo
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-troika-games-the-lord-of-the-rings-2001-demo/
In 2001, Troika Games was planning on working on a The Lord of the Rings game for Sierra. In fact, Troika Games developed a tech demo for this unannounced game, and we can finally take a look at it in the following video.
9 minutes of in-engine footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered free-to-play battle royale game, Off The Grid
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/9-minutes-of-in-engine-footage-from-the-unreal-engine-5-poweres-free-to-play-battle-royale-game-off-the-grid/
In May 2022, we informed you about a new cyberpunk battle royale game using Unreal Engine 5, called Off The Grid. And today, we can share a new video from it, showcasing nine minutes of cinematic in-engine footage.
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.